Javs to face 2nd straight unbeaten

Tarleton State's perfect record built on defense

Bo Atterberry's Texas A&M-Kingsville football club hits the road for the fifth time in six weekends when the Javelinas head for Tarleton State for Saturday's Lone Star Conference South Division football game. Atterberry won't know for sure until after the ballgame, but the bar likely won't be lowered much from last week's tussle with No. 5 West Texas A&M or the season opener against NCAA Division I-AA North Dakota.

"They've put up some really good numbers offensively and defensively, they've got one of the best," Atterberry said of the 13th-ranked Texans. "I'd say they're in that class. I don't know who does all those polls and rankings, but they've got them in those slots for a reason. They've been there the last couple of years, and they continue to be a good football team."

Good football team, yes. A beatable football team, perhaps. The 5-0 Texans had a scare thrown into them last weekend before pulling out a 24-21 road victory over Southwestern (Okla.) State. TSU needed a 64-yard scoring heave from Scott Grantham to Eric Foreman, who raced past a flat-footed SWO defender for the game-winning score with 13 seconds remaining.

That rescued Tarleton from a less-than-stellar showing. The Texans were outgained by the Bulldogs for the first time all season 380-343 and committed five turnovers, three on interceptions of Grantham.

But defense has been TSU's trump card all season. The Texans rank fourth nationally among Division II teams in total defense (224.8 yards per game) and 11th in scoring defense (12.8).

"They're tops in the conference bottom line overall," Atterberry said. "They've only given up nine points, 11 points overall, a couple hundred yards per game. I don't care who you're playing, those are pretty good numbers."

Linebackers Jamaal Steamer and Marcus Phillips and backs O'Lindsey Brown and Dee Collins have been TSU's defensive stalwarts. A first-team LSC South pick last season, Steamer leads the ballclub with 27 tackles, including 8.5 for 31 yards in losses. He is followed by Brown (24), Phillips (23) and Collins (21).

A sophomore who burst on the scene last season to earn honorable mention South honors, Grantham is averaging 161.2 passing yards per game with seven TD passes, although his quarterback rating took a hit last weekend with the three interceptions. But TSU is a two-pronged offensive beast, with junior Roderick Smith ranking 18th in the country with an average of 117 rushing yards per game. He also is fourth nationally in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game, helping the Texans average a tad less than 400 yards and 39 points per outing.

Grantham has some capable targets, headed by second-team South pick Devin Guinn. A sophomore, Guinn leads the Texans with 20 receptions for 220 yards and three TDs.